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.RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF THE POPULIST MOVEMENT

Populism (from the Latin populus, meaning 'the people') has been used to describe both distinctive political movements and a particular tradition of political thought. Movements or parties described as populist have often been characterized by their claim to support the common people in the face of 'corrupt' economic or political elites.

As a political tradition, populism reflects the belief that the instincts and wishes of the people provide the principal legitimate guide to political action. Populism, therefore, favors making direct appeals to the people and try to give expression to their deepest hopes and fears, all intermediary institutions being distrusted.

In its broadest sense, populism refers to a commitment to ideas and values that are seen as 'basic' or 'foundational'.
Since fundamental beliefs are regarded as the core of a theoretical system, as opposed to peripheral and more transitory beliefs, they usually have an enduring, unchanging conservative character.
But populism should not be mistaken for conservatism or traditionalism, despite overlaps between them and alliances being constructed.
Conservatism is modest and cautious, while populism is strident and passionate; conservatism is disposed to protect elites and defend hierarchy, while populism embodies egalitarian inclinations; conservatism favors continuity and tradition as does populism but would never defend them in any revolutionary or radical fashion.

Traditionalism refers to the belief that inherited institutions and practices, particularly those with a long and continuous history, provide the best guide for human conduct. As such, populism has little in common with traditionalism, inclined as it is to favour 'novel' interpretations of popular and religious beliefs and to call for comprehensive social regeneration.

There would be a closer affinity between populism and the reactionary radicalism of the new right. Nevertheless populism would be more reactive than reactionary: for behind the rhetoric of moral traditionalism, it is perhaps orientated more towards a purified future than towards an idealized past.

The tendency within populism towards strong leadership and psychological, social regeneration has also led some to suggest parallels with authoritarian extremism; however this risks ignoring the degree to which populism can be animated by genuine social and religious passions.

The clearest evidence that populists are not just dyed-in-the-wool reactionaries is found in their enthusiasm for particular aspects of Western culture. For instance populists across the globe are shrewdly exploiting the mediatic advantages and techniques of mass communication. The willingness to accept technology, science and the machinery of the modern state suggests some sympathy for the spirit of modernity, a balanced respect for rationalism and Christian faith instead of cultist mysticism. Populism may say to reconstitute religion within the limits of modernity, even as it copes with modernity within the limits of religion in Western society.

While populists embrace a conventional, state-centered view of politics, they have pursued a highly distinctive style of political activity: one that is vigorous and militant. Populists have no qualms being perceived as militants, in the sense that militancy implies zeal and passion of one who is engaged in a spiritual struggle.

Populism, in this case, equates well as a form of social religious militancy since their is a tendency for conflicts to involve intense core values and beliefs; those who act in the name of religion are likewise inspired by what they believe to be an ordained purpose, which clearly takes precedence over all other considerations. A second factor is that populism in particular is a form of political of identity: it serves to define who a people are and gives them a collective identity. All forms of politics of identity, whether based on social, national, ethnic, or religious distinctiveness, tend to be based upon divisions between 'in-groups' and 'out-groups'.

Certainly populism has served both to create a heightened sense of collective identity and to strengthen its oppositional and combative character. The demonized evil to combat in society amongst other things is Marxism and Liberalism, secularism and permissiveness, usury and profiteering. A third related factor is that populism, like religion, possess a Manichaean world view, one that emphasizes conflict between light and darkness, or good and evil. The movement readily accepts the spiritual Christian wisdom that a people may act according to the will of God by subverting the 'forces of darkness' that actively seek to circumvent God's purpose on Earth. Political conflict, for populists, becomes a cultural battle similar to a religious war, in which either the believers of faith or the forces of darkness must ultimately prevail.

Populism can thus be used as a means of achieving comprehensive political renewal, which is attractive to the marginalized or oppressed peoples in society; as a way of shoring up unpopular leaders or governments by creating a unified political culture; or as a means of strengthening a threatened national, religious or ethnic identity.

 

Edelweiss Media Admin.

 

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TO THE GLORY OF GOD

"The world cannot hate you; but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil." (New Testament: John, Chapter 7, verse 7)

The message on this post does not prone wars, hatred or religious intolerance, it does not make prophecies on the end of the world nor future conflicts. It does acknowledge and assume the existence of a procrastinated war campaign--like that being waged in the Middle East and openly supported by willing Christian nations.

Our message does not warn of the economic melt down of our economies--as our markets are now geared towards armament and weapon manufacturing--it tries to see beyond the present world conflicts.

The message is about ultimate survival after the crisis. It serves as a blueprint for a world order under the auspices of a strong Christian faith. For regardless of whether the war is won or lost, our faith needs to be as strong as those fundamentalisms that now oppose us.

 

INDEX

Part 1 ................................................. Christian Faith
Part 2 ....................... Definitions of The Antichrist
Part 3 ...................................... Ernal Christian Soul
Part 4 ................................................ Anti Capitalism
Part 5 ................................................... Relevant Facts

 

1. CHRISTIAN FAITH

The original human beings rebelled against God, and from that time until the coming of Christ the world was ruled by sin. The hope of a final reconciliation was kept alive through our savior Jesus Christ, who partly vanquished sin and Satan. Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, preached the coming of God's Kingdom but was rejected by religious leaders of false religions and conspirators, such as those who delivered Him to the Romans to be crucified.

 

 

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2: Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." (Bible, 1 John 4)

Christianity is the religion of about a billion people whose belief system centers on the person and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Although Christians today tend to emphasize what unites them rather than what divides them, substantial differences in faith exist among the various churches. Christianity is by definition the negation of other false religions, the pagan in one's self. The history of salvation is in fact also the history of man's continual judgment of God.

Even if Christianity did not come to being, as it did, there remains the possibility that the founder of the next religion would still have emerged from the same sources just the same. This affirmation lies in the hope explaining the historical and salutatory persistence of the forsaken: even in the most virulent anti-Christian sentiments is the possibility of begetting Christ. The Christian, therefore, is indebted to his antagonists for the realization that he must forever guard against the evil within himself. Christ, in accomplishing this deed, was the first to completely conquer man's undoing and demonstrates that the real spiritual path of salvation lies within the reach of each individual in overcoming their own anti-Christian ways.

2. DEFINITIONS OF THE ANTICHRIST

The "Antichrist" by definition stands as the enemy of Christ, Christianity and all Christians. The mission of all false religions, in fact, are to aid and precipitate Christianity's downfall through the propagation of anti-Christian teachings.

"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." (Bible, 1 John 2, verse 22)

"For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist." (Bible, 2 John 1, verse 7)

The term "Antichrist" is used in two New Testament Books, 1 John (2:18, 22; 4:3) and 2 John (7). These texts state that the Antichrist has come and is active in those who deny "that Jesus is the Christ."
The antagonist of Christ, according to the New Testament, was expected by early Christians to appear and reign over the world until overthrown at Christ's Second Coming which will complete God's plan of salvation.

"In order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him." (New Testament, John, Chapter 5, Verse 23)

3. ETERNAL CHRISTIAN SOUL

Christianity inherited and modified the belief that the world would be transformed by the coming of the Reign of God. The Christians hold that the bodies of those who had died would rise again, reanimated, and that the righteous would be triumphant, the wicked punished. This belief, along with Jesus' promise of "eternal life," developed into a doctrine of eternal rewards (heaven) and punishments (hell) after death.

As Christ Himself remarked "He is not God of the dead, but of the living." For Christ and Christians this last sentence has great relevance. The Christian believes in immortality and thus has a soul, this is what makes Christians world-negators as opposed to materialist world-affirmers. But at the same time as "world affirmation" and "world negation" are in constant battle, they maintain a vital balance between the material and spiritual world.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgement, but has passed out of death into life." (New Testament, John, Chapter 5, Verse 24)

Other religions proper, described and taught in the world are crude by definition if, unlike our faith, they forsake a theory of immortality. When their kings, heroes or prophets die and are buried it marks an end of the matter; there exists but not the slightest traces of any existence after death.

Of course Christian theology also displays a dialectical tension between God's transcendence over nature and history as creator and ruler, and his personal, moral participation in history for the sake of humankind. Christians however believe God is concerned with history, judgment, and redemption, His central manifestation is Jesus Christ, through whom God's will for mankind is revealed, his judgments are made known, and his power to save is effected.

"For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes." (New Testament, John, Chapter 5, Verse 21)

For this cause therefore the antichrists were seeking all the more to kill Him, because:

"He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God." (New Testament, John, Chapter 5, Verse 18)

And after these things Jesus was walking in Galilee; for He was unwilling to walk in Judea, because his enemies were seeking to kill Him. (see: New Testament, John Chapter 7, verse 1, verse 13)

And the enemies of Christ also sought to kill Paul (See: Bible, Acts 23, verse 12).

We learn that the "Chief priests and elders" actually agreed to the dastardly plan. The Pharisees must have also yielded to the prevailing opinion and approved of the plot, and this, as their halfhearted defense of Paul indicates, without many twinges of conscience.

"Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him." (Bible, Acts 23, verse 15)

Consider this: Paul is accused before the high council of his people because he believes in the resurrection of the dead, most Pharisees also knew that behind Paul stood the shadow of Christ.

The non-Christian loving God becomes for other followers nothing but the projection of their innate essence and are in constant nexus. As the man, so is his faith, this may explain the curious contradiction that some lost souls believe in the All Mighty, but not in their own immortality.
Christianity, therefore, has a message of salvation for the individual soul, all their ideas are not bound up with their earthly existence or possessions. We can see on this matter that there is a tremendous difference between religious denominations. The beginnings of a true religion, must warn, in the course of time, being swallowed up without a trace by the "furious belief in God," which restrains some in any feeling for the individual, the eternal soul.

That this conscious act would take place by priests and clerics one can begin to understand why some clamored "Crucify! Crucify!" against the supernatural appearance of the Savior, who came from the despised "heathen district" of Galilee.

This religion of Man divinized was conceived solely as applying to the profit of the superior predestined being, yet the promise of universal dominion, according to anti-Christian orthodoxy, did not interpret in the sense the reign of the God over all nations and worlds, but in that of material domination to be imposed on the world by mortals. The awaited Messiah could no longer represent the Redeemer of original Sin, a spiritual victor who would lead the world, it was a temporal king, bloody with battle, who would lead the people of this world.

It is probably clear that a people which grows up completely denying the existence of life after death must limit all of its thoughts and endeavors to the present world, pursuing earthly riches and material rewards. But even the great accumulation of worldly possessions limited to the realm of earthly existence cannot sway the fundamental human need for immortality, simply because the feeling of the eternal is a basic character of humankind. Wherever soul makes itself felt, however slightly, the feeling for immortality necessarily appears.

The foundations of Anti-Christianity must forever be propangadized as it is the sole means of keeping the dogma alive, the people who serve as vehicles of this pagan ritual must be exerted constant pressures to keep influencing the flocks and promote the well founded anti-Christian teachings to the world. This has been the historic mission of the antichrists, but it is something they utterly failed to accomplish without resorting to terror, violence or wars. By failing in this they failed everywhere and have only accomplished to reinforced the Christian faith. They are now without a mission of blessing and few of their leaders could ever claim a spiritual mission.

Anti-Christian movements may still be present in this world today but only persist as degenerate oppressive and repressive ideals, they can never aspire to be channels of service, hope and goodwill toward all humankind. The essence of the Anti-Christian idea and its influence on the world is the same as it is used on their followers, that is the destruction of real values in favor of fictitious values, as a means of control in a fleeting world of limited material wealth.

Any religion that promotes universal prosperity, peace and betterment of humankind will find very little resistance. In fact most God-loving Christians will, throughout the world, tolerate any religious views however extreme as perfectly acceptable. But if such time comes when a campaign against the Christian religion will be encouraged; when a religion will call upon fundamentalism as a weapon to wage war against Christianity; when every conceivable manner will be justified to thrust a religion upon all the citizens of the world, then such fanatical dogma will have to bare part of responsibility and the anti-Christian oppressors should expect but the strongest opposition.

4. ANTI-CAPITALISM

Throughout medieval Europe Christian doctrine forbade Christians to take interest on loans; as a result, other religious denominations were required to engage in money lending on behalf of the royal treasuries.
One might say that the interesting fact about why European countries remained immune to early forms of capitalism is precisely because they have had a strong Christian following.

Christian teachings have demonstrated a common defense mechanism that allows their communities to escape the most rampant forms of capitalism. Vows of poverty, for example, are hardly the way to monetary riches. In principle, the Christian faith, as a traditional force, says no to market innovations, money, speculation, usury.
In fact it is precisely when Christian orthodoxy begins to erode that it is supplemented by other forms of state and governing institutions.

Since the downfall of the monarchies throughout Europe, the Church has steadily lost its influence on the masses, with their downfall, Christianity together with its values, moral codes and spiritual teachings, has systematically been replaced by the ideological political aspirations we have today, as the only way to enrich lives. The modern European economies we have today were founded on the principles of the treaties of Westphalia by the mid-seventeenth century. The agreement effectively ended the rule of the monastical theocracy as called for by the Respublica Christiana and gave the reign of powers to pluralist socioeconomic sovereignties away from Christian unity and religious orthodoxy.

That secular move away from religious legitimacy has been a cornerstone of international society ever since.
Since then we have fought for the power the riches can bestow, yet riches should enrich our lives in the spiritual sense, it should not be a means to diminish our self-worth. Though they seem empirical, these fundamental values are essential in order to weight our importance as beings and find meaning to our existence. Ideology should not be used as a means to pursue wealth, instead it should help assure the basic necessities of life for all. Without this fundamental goal in mind, man's ideology is flawed, becoming a manipulative and destructive force.

Capitalism has substituted itself as a religion, demanding obedience to divine rules and needs the occasional sacrifices to appease the anger of the market. Governments went so far as to imprint: "In God We Trust" on their paper currencies. When faith in money becomes the only glue holding a society together, when the need for it becomes a matter of life or death, one can indeed begin to question how and when it became the supreme power on earth.

Christian intellectuals and scholars have not yet achieved singularity of purpose, because of a certain lack of discipline or procrastinating tendencies. The Christian flocks increasingly seek personal gratification and distractions in amusements, games, pastimes and entertainment where their passions and creativity not only lay untapped but are simply wasted.
Competitions in art, in sports of all kinds also help to distract believers from religious scholastic pursuits or pious observances. The result is that after a time they are unwilling or simply unable to defend or promote their faith. Progress in this light becomes a carrier of fallacious ideas, made to obscure divine secular truths so that minds may be turned away from God toward modern material pursuits.

"In order to achieve a more humane society we need to reevaluate our moral principles, adopt a new system of worth. We need to treasure our heritage and use materialism only as tools to achieve our greatness. Ideological Christian ethics should restore the natural balance between what is economic reality (material) and fiction (virtual). In order to succeed, we need to formulate a doctrine of spiritual materiality: not mind over matter but value over brands; not profit for gains but knowledge for spiritual enrichment." E.A. Englund

5. RELEVANT FACTS

  • - One of the top literary best sellers remains the Bible. This indicates the need for hope and prayer. But it also signals the need for understanding and motivation in these times of crises.
  • - Religious doctrines, in the past, made possible the art and science of statecraft it will no doubt continue to do so in the future.
  • - The building of nations relied on faith and the power that the church could provide to unite peoples of a common land.
  • - The Vatican was the center of transnational power and the financial hegemon that ruled the economic and military might of the Christian world.
  • - Holy wars: Christian faith demanded the highest sacrifices but in return offered unison and political stability, it also made possible the rule of law.
  • - Christian fundamentalism was not only necessary to build the military might it was invaluable in order to enable a religious war with Islam.
  • The Crusade was an attempt at conquering the Holy Land but was also seen as the ultimate endeavor to establish the Christian faith as the only worldwide religion.
  • - Economically Europe was stronger, financially it was not dependent on outside resources and relied on state contributions and donations towards war efforts.
  • - The failed crusades led to an internal conflict that created a schism of the Christian faith, Protestantism-Catholicism.
  • - It left Islam stronger and more unified.
  • - Today the US has precipitated two open-ended conflicts liking with a world war on specific Islamic nations (Irak-Afganistan).
  • - Bush has said this was a modern crusade then apologized for the reference, why? Because we are not ready to mount such a war, we are neither strong morally nor spiritually as in the past.
  • - Wall Street cannot expect to replace the Vatican as a financial center supporting a modern crusade since all state institutions would need to support such campaigns.
  • - The US is now so much engulfed in and driven by dirty finance, drug trafficking and illegal trading of arms and goods, its government can no longer represent Christian values. The shadow economy it tries to globalize is destabilizing every Christian institution. The shadow economic interest the world is pursuing is becoming a pagan hegemon with a mighty arsenal at its disposal to impose its rule of law on the world.

 

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